The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, applying Louisiana law, has held that an employment practices exclusion barred coverage under a D&O liability policy for retaliation claims arising out of alleged whistleblower activity, limiting coverage to the policy’s EPL coverage part. Burney v. Madison Parish Hosp. Serv. Dist., 2026 WL 921770 (W.D. La. Mar. 2, 2026).
The claimant, a hospital employee, alleged that the insured employer and its officers retaliated against her after she reported suspected unlawful conduct to internal management and government authorities, asserting claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Louisiana’s anti-retaliation statute. The insured tendered the lawsuit to its insurer, seeking coverage under the policy’s EPL and D&O coverage parts. The insurer contended that only the policy’s EPL coverage was potentially implicated.
